The present disclosure relates generally to drawer slide assemblies, and more particularly to drawer slide assemblies with anti-racking features.
A common problem with wide drawers is the lack of stability during opening and closing of the drawer. This condition may occur when the drawer is pulled or pushed far from its center. If a drawer is pushed or pulled from one side, the other side will tend to either remain on its current position or move in the opposite direction. This causes a lack of stability in the drawer performance.
Conventional antirack devices may use a toothed rack and pinion system to provide side to side synchronization. The rack is commonly placed or attached to the stationary member of the slide, and the pinion is attached to the sliding member. As the sliding members goes out of the stationary member the pinion rotates over the rack. The drawer movement is synchronized and stabilized since both slides of the drawer have rack and pinion systems and they are connected by a link shaft.
Some of the drawbacks of rack and pinion systems are: the amount of noise produced when the pinion is engaging the rack, the accumulation of dirt on the rack since it is not concealed and the limitation on the drawer travel since it is limited to the extension of the rack and the rack is limited by the depth of the cabinet. Another drawback of conventional rack and pinion systems is their complicated installation method and the long time needed to achieve it. The pinion has to be aligned when the slide is being installed to the cabinet and it can be done incorrectly since there's only a visual aid to do it. The synchronization of the system can take a long time and more than one person.
A disadvantage of many existing antirack systems is that the connecting shaft travels along with the drawer. This leaves the shaft visible and hard to hide or conceal. It also makes the system difficult to automate.